Power outages, however long they may be, slippery walking conditions, snow-covered ground and very cold temperatures all let us know we are in a Maine winter. These conditions rule our lives and the lives of all creatures in the natural world for awhile, but as we all know, life goes on, and we adapt the best we can. Some humans and some other forms of wildlife revel in the snow and ice.
Getting food is very important for all creatures in order to survive. Feathered residents and visitors to the islands keep feeders especially busy in December. Redpolls arrive and stay through the first part of April. They come with the snowflakes and leave when spring approaches. These birds are about the size of chipping sparrows, are darkly streaked, grayish brown and have white wing bars. The breast and rump are pink, and the adult has a red cap and a black chin. You’ll notice them when they arrive. These colorful wanderers drift into the Northeast every winter in considerable numbers and are lovely to see. From a distance, you could easily mistake them for goldfinches until they get close enough for you to see the pink breast and red cap of the male redpoll. Redpolls often flock with goldfinches and pine siskins.
In the winter, they spend the short days searching for food and eating. At darkness, they retire to a thicket of evergreens to sleep. Their food consists mostly of the seeds of birches, alders and grasses. At your feeder, offer them sunflower seeds, millet, hemp, hayseed and rolled oats.
If you notice a new or different bird at your feeder, make note of the kind of bill the bird has. Grosbeaks, for instance, have thick, large bills rounded in outline. Finches, sparrows and buntings have bills much like that of a canary. A crossbill‘s bill is like none other, with its unusual crossed mandibles. Noting these facts makes identification so much easier.
Also note how the bird searched for food. Did it look for insects and grubs beneath the bark? Such birds usually have tweezer-like bills in order to grab tiny pieces of food. Owls and hawks have hooked bills for ripping apart their food. Birds flying through the air catching insects have big mouths and small bills. Noting these different characteristics will help you identify a new bird very well. It’s also good to snap a photo if you can. Even a poor photo is helpful sometimes.
Wherever I have traveled in the world, I’ve been able to figure out a new bird or at least the type of bird I was seeing for the first time by these methods. A memorable moment for me in Greece happened when I saw a nuthatch around the walls of some ancient temple. The bird was going in and out of a nest. There was no doubt that it was some sort of nuthatch, a new one on my “life list.” In South America, an oriole-type bird attracted my attention, and I was able to key it down using these helpful hints. Kingfishers, of course, are easy. Wherever you are in the world, if you see a small or large kingfisher, you know to which family it belongs even if you don’t recognize that particular kingfisher. Here on Mount Desert Island, we only see the belted kingfisher. Tropical kingfishers may be very large or small and different colors, but their shapes and habits loudly say, “I am a kingfisher.”
Where you see the new bird should be noted as well, and note what it was doing. Be a good detective and gather lots of clues to help with identification. I’m always glad to help if I can.
Mallards display their courtship antics in November and December, so watch them if you get a chance. When their favorite ponds freeze, you’ll find them in local harbors. You can even do your bird watching from the comfort of your car if you have good binoculars with you. The courtship ritual is often done after they have fed well. It’s fascinating to watch and sometimes very funny.
One chilly day, I passed several mourning doves drinking and bathing in some melted waters next to the road. In spite of the snow and cold temperatures, the birds were splashing and preening. There’s nothing like a good bath. During our winter, mourning doves gather in large flocks and roost together. If the winter snows are not too crusty, they will winter well, for they feed on grass and weed seeds and any berries they can find. In periods of freezing snow and when an icy covering encases seeds and everything else out of doors, they have great difficulty in finding food, except at a feeder. Their feet are not strong enough to scratch through crusted snow. Some mourning doves do migrate, but others stay here all year.
In the air, mourning doves are quite special to watch, for they bend their wings back after each wing stroke, and their long, pointed tails stream elegantly behind them. If you are close enough to hear them take off, their wings make a whistling sound you can hear easily. The call of the mourning dove is a plaintive “coo-coo coo coo” rising and falling in pitch and repeated many times. You probably won’t hear them call until spring. It is then they pair off and do their cooing.
You commonly see larger doves or pigeons at local docks. Actually, these larger doves are not native to America but were brought by the European settlers. They have adapted well. The tall buildings of a city are similar to the cliffs on which they prefer to live. If you live near a dock or the water where they hang about, you may have them coming to your feeder in large numbers. My suggestion to this situation, if you don’t want them coming, is to stop feeding for a week or so in hopes of discouraging them so they will go find food elsewhere.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Chickens and pigeons have been kicked to death by thugs in an “absolutely horrific” spate of attacks.
And in one particularly cruel act, a 15-year-old goose was killed after the culprits seemingly stamped it to death – before they buried its head in mud.
Police say allotment holders – including pensioners – have been left “heartbroken” after discovering the shocking acts of violence against the animals.
It appears the livestock were kicked and even stamped on, while others were seemingly let out to escape at the council allotments in Hartlepool.
Cleveland Police say the allotments, between Elmwood Road, Thornhill Gardens and Wiltshire Way, were targeted between Sunday and Monday.
A 69-year-old man was left distraught when between 1pm on Sunday and 9am on Monday someone got into a shed and opened a chicken coup.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Five-year-old Jannatul Maida was having the day of her life to see so many colourful exotic birds up close under one roof.
The exuberant young girl was seen enjoying herself and moving from one stall to another with her father at the fancy birds and pigeons exhibition in the city yesterday, held at Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (CVASU).
The exhibition was jointly organised by Chittagong Bird Breeders’ Association, Chittagong Fancy Pigeon Breeders’ Association and Association of Avian Veterinarians, Bangladesh. Workshops and training for pet bird owners were also organised during the event.
Sakhawat Hossain, father of nursery student Jannat, said, “My daughter loves birds very much. I brought her to this exhibition since it’s a great opportunity for seeing varieties of fancy birds and pigeons in one place.”
Emon Chowdhury, a student of Premier University, and his two friends were among the hundreds of bird lovers who thronged the day-long exposition with their family and friends.
“We didn’t want to miss this chance of seeing so many beautiful birds at the same time,” Emon said in between taking photographs and selfies with his friends and the colourful birds.
Shamsul Arefin, deputy commissioner of Chittagong, told reporters at the exhibition, “Never before have I seen such a large number of birds at one place.”
Chief patron of the exhibition, CVASU Vice-Chancellor Prof Goutam Buddha Das, said, breeding of pet birds needs to be encouraged to save wild birds and such breeding of birds could “generate income as well”.
Near about 50 species of 150 fancy foreign birds and 100 species of around 200 pigeons were on display as well as on sale during the event, said Dr Saddam Hossain, executive secretary of Association of Avian Veterinarians, Bangladesh.
Budgerigar, Cockatiel, Lorikeet, Goldfinch, Eastern Rosella, Western rosella, Sun Conure, Blue Crowned Conure, Love Bird, Long-tailed Finch and White Finch were a few to name among the fancy birds displayed at the show.
A few noteworthy varieties of pigeons were Jacobin, American Fantail, Bokhara, Potter and Shakar.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
PLANS to remove two trees by the water tower in Tower Close, Emmer Green, have been postponed as one of them has been found to have a pigeon nest with eggs in.
Thames Water said the work would not take place until the nest is empty, which was not expected to be before mid-December at the earliest.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Unsure of how to control a tourist boom that has prompted street protests, Barcelona has at least come up with a way to stop an invasion of the feathered variety: by putting pigeons on the pill.
Experts estimate there are 85,000 pigeons in the city and they blame the birds for spreading illnesses and covering people in excrement.
Now authorities plan to introduce the contraceptive nicarbazine, which does not harm the birds’ health, in 40 feeding tanks. It is hoped the population will fall by 20 per cent in the first year and 70 per cent within four years.
Ada Colau, the left-wing Mayor of Barcelona, has opted for an “ethical” solution. In the past, council workers captured pigeons in nets and killed them using carbon dioxide.
A more difficult problem comes in the form of tourists, nine million of whom visited Barcelona last year. Residents have taken to the streets to protest against the numbers, fearing that the city will be overwhelmed. The council has fined accommodation rental websites Airbnb and HomeAway €600,000 ($850,000) each for advertising flats without tourist permits.
Meanwhile, Ms Colau has been criticised by tourism companies for a plan to cut the number of hotels in the CBD.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Five-year-old Jannatul Maida was having the day of her life to see so many colourful exotic birds up close under one roof.
PLANS to remove two trees by the water tower in Tower Close, Emmer Green, have been postponed as one of them has been found to have a pigeon nest with eggs in.
Unsure of how to control a tourist boom that has prompted street protests, Barcelona has at least come up with a way to stop an invasion of the feathered variety: by putting pigeons on the pill.